Cal State East Bay students die in apparent murder-suicide

By Harry Harris and Angela Hill

...In a separate incident, an apparent murder-suicide, Eric Hicks Jr., 23, a Cal State East Bay student, drove with a 19-year-old woman believed to be his girlfriend to a relative's apartment building on the corner of 84th Avenue and International Boulevard.

He pulled into the driveway, the two struggled in the car and the woman was shot to death, police said. Hicks then went inside the relative's apartment and shot and killed himself, police said.

The woman, whose name was not released, was also a student at the university, where she was a resident in student housing, confirmed university spokeswoman Monique Beeler. Police said the two had known each other for several months.

"We are so saddened by the loss of these young people, and our prayers and thoughts go out to their families," Beeler said. The university is offering grief counseling services for students and staff.

Hicks, who worked at Oakland International Airport refueling airplanes, had played football at Bakersfield Junior College on the Bakersfield Renegades, police said. In 2004, he was known as a football, baseball and wrestling star at Oakland High School.

Hicks' uncle, Roderick Jenson, 51, arrived at the crime scene Thursday morning.

"It's a sad day for our family," he said, adding that he wanted to express condolences to the young woman's family as well. "This tragedy affects both families. It's very sad."

Jenson described his nephew as "a pretty steady kid."

"He never partied, never went out," he said. "He went to school, and he worked. He was a well-grounded kid, but you never know what's going on in their lives."

The killings mark Oakland's 87th and 88th homicides of the year. There were 105 homicides at this time last year. In 2008, there were seven homicides involving domestic violence, police said. Thursday's deaths bring the total of domestic violence-related homicides for 2009 to eight.